We anchored at 27°08.076′ N, 114°17.478 W.
Notes for boaters:
- Anchored in ~25 feet of water with ~130 feet of chain. Perfect holding, and even with some big winds that came through, we stayed perfectly set.
- There are lots of lobster pots with floaters trailing long lines. If anchoring in the dark, recommend having a bow watch with a good flashlight.
- If coming from the north, make sure to get all the way around Isla Asuncion, don’t try to cut in early.
- No port captain to check in/out with.
- Grocery stores are plentiful and have more than the basics.
- Best dinghy landing spot is west of the pilings.
We stayed 11/1 to 11/6. We were ready for an early night when we first arrived after 5 days on the water, but determined to stay up past sunset, take showers, and tidy up a bit.
An hour before sunset, while we dozed on the settee, there was a knock on our boat. Our first visitor! Please don’t be a port official telling us we are in trouble.
No, lucky us, it was a local named Lerry! The only other boat in the anchorage when we arrived was his, Tobivana, named after his two kids. He saw us come in on AIS, and after we got settled came over in his dinghy to say hi. We talked a little bit about our trip (us excited to practice Spanish, him English, and we did plenty of both), his boat, and our boat. Once we got to the electrical motor, he was interested, so we invited him inside to show him around. An hour slid by of slightly challenging but highly enjoyable conversation, he stayed for a beer. Around sunset, his wife called (apparently our beer was “weird” and “strong”), and afterwards he invited us to join his family’s Dia de Muertos celebration the following day. Obviously, yes, please, thank you so much for inviting us.
Dia de Muertos – Rancho el Khoyote day – was superb. In the early afternoon, Lerry picked us up in his truck from the dinghy landing spot. We stopped by a grocery store, then jostled out of town on a beautiful desert highway. After an abrupt turn onto a very sandy path and a short few minutes towards a mesa, we were at his family’s rancho. Named, as we learned, for his grandfather’s dream in which a coyote bit him and he yelled “khoyote!!!”
When we arrived it was us, Lerry and his wife, her older sister, younger brother, and abuelo. Their two kids and a cousin came later with abuela. Then another tía, and finally one more tía and tío. And around dinner, a coyote even made an appearance.
Lerry brought us around the orchard (not in season, but figs, mangoes, tomatoes, honeybees, and more), then we went to hang out in and around the rancho. Hurricane Kay had blown the roof off, so we were mostly sitting outside. The family was very nice, very patient with my Spanish. Abuelo, Lerry, and Charles went to start cooking over copal wood. They made beef, pork, chicken, and little sweet onions. It smelled like heaven. It tasted like heaven. It was heaven. They showed us photos of their family, madres, padres, abuelos no longer around. The kids brought out a chocolate calavera for everyone to share. Lerry’s wife sent us home with homemade pan de muertos. It was the most wonderful day.
We had two very windy days, so we stayed indoors and I worked remotely. Then on our last day we went back into town for water, groceries, and to take a nice long walk – the length of town in both directions, meandering, tide pooling. Near the Bufadora we picked up a dog friend, very sweet and well behaved. He followed us to the restaurant where we ate lunch, then into a grocery store! I had to walk him back out, tell him to “espera aquí” (he listened!), and then go back in to start shopping again.
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